In this chapter we set out a series of progressive egalitarian policy principles and proposals that constitute a democratic Marxist and ecosocialist manifesto for schooling and teacher education for economic and social justice. This is based on a democratic Marxist theoretical framework (1) and on a structuralist neo-Marxist analysis (2). We also…

This article discusses the limited use of education vouchers in an era of unprecedented growth in school choice. It is divided into two parts: first, a description of the policy, political, and legal barriers that may limit the expansion of large-scale voucher programs is presented. Discussion then shifts to the efforts of voucher advocates to…

During the last quarter of a century, public higher education institutions have found themselves buffeted by a perfect storm. This storm has led to discussions about the privatization of those institutions, which has implications for their ability to improve, or at least maintain, their quality and their accessibility to students from all…

What fuels the push toward privatization of public higher education institutions? This article attempts to unravel the nine beliefs that underlie conversations taking place in state legislatures and on higher education campuses and then asks, Will privatization work? How will it work for the state's citizens, the states, and institutions? The…

This paper summarizes the phenomenon of offshore outsourcing and relates it to the history and current state of engineering education and the engineering profession in Europe and the USA. In order to assess the climate affecting employment decisions by and about engineers we have used as sources mostly the serious press, with an emphasis on…

Addresses the corrosive effects of corporate culture on the academy and society, arguing that neoliberal discourses of privatization and commercialization reduce citizenship to self-interest. Maintains that corporate culture ignores social injustices while emphasizing unfettered market forces, threatening understanding of democracy and the meaning…

Describes how the University of Virginia is beginning to fall apart, while the recently completed Darden Graduate School of Business Administration is moving toward self-sufficiency and is the sign of things to come in the privatization of public higher education. In its eagerness to enter the top ranks of business schools, Darden has made the…

Several superintendents have recently left school administration for careers in private education companies such as Education Alternatives, Inc., the Edison Project, and Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. Former superintendents from New York, Rochester, Saint Paul, and Detroit reflect on their reasons for switching careers. Salary considerations…

In "Corporate School Takeovers," the National Education Association expresses indignation over profit making by private companies providing services to schools. Argues that profits are a way of recognizing costs that exist in all school settings. The seeking of profits is no more selfish than the seeking of higher salaries, promotions,…

This article discusses how representations of individual discipline and risk-taking in mass media inform the broader public discourses about public education and the public sector generally. Such representations and narratives about individual discipline and risk-taking often function in mass media as moral imperatives of consumer culture. Such…

Examines new forms of school organization that do not fit traditional definitions of public and private schools. Three case studies explore critical features of the public-private distinction, highlighting the fuzzy boundaries between schools that are clearly public and schools that are clearly private, and contending that their shared…

Investigates the relationship between political preferences and the privatization of education in the United Kingdom. Finds that parents with children in school and individuals with higher tax liabilities favor privatization; those working in education oppose privatization. (Contains 5 tables and 29 references.)(PKP)

Four key reasons underlie the push for teacher union solidarity in 1998: desire to fulfill Al Shanker's dream of a unified mission, to end union competition, to bolster Democratic Party weaknesses, and to stop privatization. The NEA/AFT merger failed because of conflicting organizational cultures and teachers' gradualist, localist, and…

Public employee unions, especially the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, are the main political opposition to contracting out by school boards. This paper notes school boards have nowhere to turn for help in maintaining their freedom to contract out and discusses disturbing aspects of the unions' opposition to…

India demonstrates many features characteristic of private higher education in much of the world. Among these features are proportional size, with roughly 30 percent of total enrollment, and fast growth. Also rather typical is finance, which comes almost exclusively from non-government sources, principally tuition, while public higher education is…